ss,1&2,all checks andformatting;1.4.7.sadhana,1.4.3liberation

The first and foremost principle which underlies all manifestation is the principle of cognition. You know, there cannot be expression unless there is first cognition. There must be awareness, consciousness, cognition, then there may be the development or recognition of a sense of self; an "I" feeling may come in the mind. First there is cognition, pure and unbound. Then there is the development of a sense of one's own existence and an "I" feeling, "I exist". After that, comes the sense of doership, "I do", "I am doing". So now there is not only cognition and a sense of one's own existence, but there is also a sense of doership, of action: "I" and "act". They exist together. "I am", "I do", "I will do", they exist together. Then, in this further extension of consciousness, comes the awareness of object. "I am hungry", "I am tired", "I am a human being", "I do actions". There is the object of one's awareness. So first there is self-awareness, then the awareness that that self is attached to various actions in the world, is the doer of various actions, is associated with objects of the world. And from that association of one's sense of self and the objects of the world comes the entire development and structure of the human mind.

So when a sadhaka does sadhana, what will they do? They will remove the focus of their awareness, of their cognition from the objects which surround them. Then they will systematically remove the "I" from the sense of doership, from the sense of involvement, from the sense of action in the world. And then they will remove it even from the sense of "I" feeling, from the sense of self-awareness, of the feeling "I exist in the world". They will remove this "I exist", and as this is removed there comes in the mind awareness, direct experience, of the larger sense of self, of the omniscient Cosmic Self, the Great Self in which the entire creation is manifest. When that most radiant being in all its resplendent glory appears in the mind of a human being, the mind of the human being is completely stunned. No thought can come in the mind because the mind is stunned by the vision of this great entity and cannot go beyond this scope of that vision. When this happens, there is one thing that may be done. The sadhaka may simply cling to the awareness of that great entity and forget all else.

But, you know, the nature of mind is to be restless, to move. So after some period of time the mind begins to restructure itself. The "I" feeling comes in the mind, the personal "I" feeling, and then awareness comes of the world around or of the objects which surround the individuality and the involvement with the world. All of these things come again into awareness, and so this vision of the Supreme is first experienced as a transitory state known in yoga as samadhi, or trance of absorption. In the samadhi state, the sadhaka is absorbed in the Divine Entity. But when the mind reforms itself out of this restlessness of its nature, and again involves with the objects of the external world, then this awareness, this direct perception of the Supreme is lost.

However, it has not been in vain. It is not altogether gone, for that vision has made a distinct impact upon the unit mind. It has changed forever the nature of that mind. For now, in the spectrum of the experience of that being, there will be this immutable vision. But that alone will not hold the sadhaka. They must make direct effort to once again know the Supreme Entity, to experience again the direct presence of that Entity. And this is done through a methodical approach, doing regular meditation, ideation upon the Supreme regularly, each day. In this way, with regular ideation upon the Divine Entity, the mind of a human being is slowly drawn away from the world to the feet of the Divine.

It is a step by step process which can take some time. But slowly, slowly, as more and more often the mind is absorbed in contemplation of the great, attachment to that experience becomes more than attachment to worldly experience. Then that experience grows in the mind, for what you are attached to you will go towards, and as this experience grows in the mind, mind grows in magnitude. The subtle kosas or layers of the mind become more and more developed, so that subtle thinking, subtle perceptions, subtle likes, envelop the mind, and cruder, more physical and grosser activities become less appealing. In this way, the mind of a sadhaka is drawn from cruder and grosser involvements to more and more subtle thoughts, subtle perceptions and subtle actions.

As greater and greater proximity is achieved to the Infinite, the shower of that Entity's radiance becomes more and more visible in the mind of a sadhaka. So there is more and more subtlety in that mind, more and more finesse. The mind is more sensitive, the mind is psychically attuned. The mind identifies with subtle feelings, subtle thoughts, and the qualities and characteristics of the Supreme Entity begin to radiate in the mind of such a sadhaka. Such a person will value compassion, they will value kind heartedness, they will see all the creatures of the world as aspects of themselves, not unlike themselves, so they will not want to harm any of these creatures. They will feel a kind of love and harmlessness towards all. They will feel a sense of intuitive discrimination, beginning to sense what moves towards this divine radiance and what moves away from this radiance so they may march their footsteps in the correct direction. And slowly, slowly the sadhaka begins to take on more and more of the qualities and characteristics of the Supreme. They become more and more harmonized with His flow, with His expression, with His universal form, and there is less and less identification with crude and selfish desires.

Then, over time, this radiance becomes more and more directly perceivable, not only in states of absorption as initially occurred, but in the day-to-day experience of the individual. Then, as this ideation upon the great continues, and there is further and further association with the Great, there comes a day when He is so bright in the mind of a person that they begin to lose the capacity to distinguish themselves as a little person. They begin to perceive that He is all around, within and without. "He is in my every action, in my ever thought, in my whole experience. There is nothing of me which is not of Him, and all this world is within his preview. I am like the salt doll, melted in Him. There is nothing in me which is not His."

The sadhaka thus entranced lives in the world, but not of it. The sadhaka thus entranced becomes the very expression of Parama Purus'a. The differences that have been maintained begin to fade from the mind. The mind looses its individuality and becomes associated with the Infinite. And when this occurs, there is a permanent shift. For this is nor longer a state of trance, but this is the totality of the experience, and all of the final factors of ego are shed. Like the bright sun burning the dew, the samskaras, the tentacles of past experience, are burned even as they arise, for the heat of that radiance is too bright, too full for any mist to be sustained.

Thus, the individualized cognition, the individualized sense of self is merged into the cosmic sense of self, the cosmic sense of existence, and cognition becomes that of the Cosmic Mind, not of the unit mind. Then, as the brilliance of that cognition is held in the mind, awareness will grow beyond the mind to the pure undifferentiated nucleus of all creation, the Purusottama, the central point, the quiescent consciousness, underlying all manifestation. This is the process of evolution of consciousness within the unit mind.